Business

This panel will provide a review and analysis of § 1129(a) and (b) confirmation standards focused on recent and hot topic areas affecting senior and junior secured creditors. Discussed will be Momentive Performance issues, including cramdown interest rates at below-market rates even when market rates exist, the extent of the subordination of senior subordinated noteholders, the enforceability of make-whole payment provisions in chapter 11 plans, and intercreditor and cramdown issues.

This panel is part of our continuing series on drafting skills for bankruptcy and restructuring attorneys. The panel is intended to provide a practical “how to” discussion and analysis of drafting chapter 11 plan documents including the Disclosure Statement, the Chapter 11 Plan, Liquidating Trust Agreements, and related document. The panel will provide form documents and discuss heavily negotiated or scrutinized provisions in these documents.

This panel will discuss how lawyers and FAs can work together in creating clear client expectations by defining for the client both the lawyer’s and FA’s work scope. Additionally discussed will be the fee structure involved in the retention of FAs both as company advisors and expert witnesses. Finally, this panel will explain in detail what can be done to make our mutual clients happy with both the lawyers and FAs in the obtained results.

Find out not only what the hot new issues are in chapter 15 proceedings, but also the answers to issues that no one talks about. For example, can chapter 15 be used to bring a cause of action? Can a foreign debtor recognized under chapter 15 use § 108 to extend limitations, and can such a debtor seek turnover pursuant to § 542(e)? Come hear our panel discuss these and other important chapter 15 questions.

Jeffrey N. Pomerantz, Moderator ABI Vice President-Education Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP; Los Angeles Resolved: Curbing pension rights in a chapter 9 case is constitutional. Con: Babette A. Ceccotti Cohen, Weiss & Simon LLP; New York Resolved: Committee member fees are not payable as part of a Chapter 11 plan. Pro: Nan Roberts Eitel Executive Office for U.S. Trustees; Washington, D.C. Con: Dennis F. Dunne Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP; New York Resolved: A chapter 13 debtor may employ § 363 to effect a free-and-clear short sale of his/her principal residence notwithstanding § 1322(b)(2) and the secured creditor’s objection. Pro: Hon. Eugene R. Wedoff U.S. Bankruptcy Court (N.D. Ill.); Chicago Con: Hon. Mary Grace Diehl U.S. Bankruptcy Court (N.D. Ga.); Atlanta

Recent decades have seen substantial expansion in exemptions from the Bankruptcy Code’s provisions with respect to repurchase agreements, or “repos.” These agreements, which are equivalent to very-short-term (often one-day) secured loans, are exempt from such core bankruptcy provisions as the automatic stay, the avoidability of fraudulent transfers and the avoidability of preferences. Recent scholarship has questioned whether these exemptions are justified for mortgage-backed securities and other securities that could prove illiquid or unable to realize their long-term value in the event of the kind of panic experienced during the financial crisis of 2007-09. This panel will explore the arguments for and against revising the Bankruptcy Code’s existing treatment of these agreements.

Your favorite judges will answer the most difficult questions fielded from ABI members in the weeks before this event and from members of the audience. Hear the judges provide their input on best practices, interesting arguments and the current state of the law.

Any reform of current chapter 11 practice must account for the prevailing criticism that fees and costs are too high, and do it in a way that focuses on aligning incentives with case efficiency. This panel of Commissioners will discuss recommended reforms that provide for more effective oversight, as well as alternative fee structures consistent with professionals’ ethical obligations under the Code of Professional Responsibility.